When the customer visited the restaurant Monday night, he left a note on the receipt thanking the staff for the gumbo and gave instructions on how to divide up the tip--$1,000 for Turner and $500 each for Nardelli and bartender, Laura Dally, according to Washington Post.

The gratuity wasn’t discovered until the end of the night, but once it was they were shocked.

“We’ve never seen anything remotely close to this, you see 100% or 200%, but never anything like this,” Nardelli said to WPTV.

Nardelli sent a “thank you” e-mail to the customer the next day and he then explained why he left a big tip.

“He said he’s very happy with what we’ve built and that he’s proud to be a customer,” Nardelli said to Washington Post.

He plans to use this generous tip to cover daycare costs for his daughter and also share among staffers.